Andrej Babic has already taken part in four editions of the Eurovision Song Contest for four different countries, his native Croatia in 2003, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2005, Slovenia in 2007 and Portugal last year in Belgrade. This year, Andrej is running again in two countries as he has made it to the Slovenian semi final, taking place tonight and also was recently announced as a successful semi finalist in Serbian Beovizija as well.
You are considered to be one of Eurovision's most successful composers, with two of your songs having qualified to the final for two different countries that had never managed to do so before (Slovenia in 07 and Portugal in 08), so, I guess, that makes you the one to answer this question: is there a recipe a composer can follow to succeed in this contest?
First, let me thank you for such start of this interview! Well, I didn't plan anything to happen; I just followed my instincts, and did what I wanted; what I want to say, I didn't calculate too much; for example who could expect that a half-known opera singer could beat some of the most popular Slovenian pop artists in EMA 2007. It's only important to have a dream and stick to it :-). That's the recipe!
Do you have a favourite among your Eurovision entries? One or two which are closest to your heart?
It's hard to say which song I prefer… When people ask me that, I often say that those 4 songs were made as a reflection of my age, and my «state of mind»… That's why I have some special connections to each of them… Vise nisam tvoja reminds me of how young we were, Call me; I had great time in Kiev, Cvet z juga I saw as victory, but not just in EMA… I was asking myself do I need EMA at all, after I was runner up there for 2 years… but then I said to myself – raise your head, stop crying over Mandoline, and move forward! Senhora do mar was the song that many famous Croatian artists refused to sing – they didn't see something in it. From this point of view, I am grateful for that; because if it had been otherwise, I would never have felt what it's like when people in Belgrade Arena scream «Por-tu-gal!». I thank also Carlos Coelho for the wonderful lyrics, and Vania for the amazing performance.
Looking at all four of your Eurovision songs, one cannot help but notice that they are diametrically different to each other in style. Also it is obvious that you have evolved as a composer moving towards more complex songs. Is there a particular genre that expresses you the most?
Although, some people (usually hidden behind nick names on different forums) say that my songs are all the same, and that I only copy myself, I don't agree with that at all – my 4 Eurovision songs are really different one from another. That's the beauty of making music for me – exploring, creating… I don't deny that I can't escape from my «signature», but I always try to make a song that suits the performer; that's why it looks like that all my songs for, let's say Sasa Lendero, are similar to one another, but I don't find them similar at all.
If I would have to choose which type of songs I prefer, then I have to admit that I am so fascinated by the part of Earth where I live… that's why you hear so much of mandolins, buzuki, and other ethnic elements in my songs, and not to mention «the sea» as my eternal inspiration for lyrics…
How do you go about choosing a song and an artist for Eurovision? Is it first the song then the suitable artist for it or vice versa?
I have to say that all my Eurovision performers (except Claudia) and I met only a few months before the respective national selections; when the songs were already ready, or at least almost complete…
Call me was brought to Feminnem by Bosnian TV, I only sent demo… then, when I made Cvet z juga, I knew what I was looking for – soprano! Some friends intoduced me to Alenka Gotar, and only 3 months later, she was the winner of EMA. Last year, when I was given a chance to do a song for Festival de cancao, Carlos suggested a few names, and I saw their videos… The minute I saw Vania singing some fado song in Operacion Triunfo, I knew she was the perfect performer for that song… I believe that there is no such thing as accident; for example when I was searching a little bit about my sons Chinese horoscope, I found something which shocked me: his Ying and Yang symbols were Mandolin and Butterfly (Metulj)… how strange is that?
Is Slovenia the only country we will see you competing in this year?
As you know now – no, I have a song on Beovizija 09, it's called Tvoje drugo ime je greh, and it is performed by Dusan Zrnic, a fantastic young singer from Novi Sad, who is, again, showing something new, when it comes to my writing. An uptempo pop-rock tune, with strong lyrics will, I hope, help Dusan to make a bigger impact on the Serbian pop scene. When it comes to Eurovision preselections this year… let's only say – it's not over until the (fat) lady sings the high note 🙂
In 2006, your song Mandoline, performed by Sasa Lendero in the Slovenian final, won the televote but did not receive a single point by the jury. How did that make you feel?
I was very sad, not hiding it. It was one of those moments in life which I will remember forever. Few people trying to play against their own people; thinking how powerful they are, for not allowing us to go to Athens… well, guess again… the song was more powerful than any jury, and became one of the biggest hits in Slovenia that year. Also it won OGAE Second Chance Contest, and established Sasa as the biggest Slovenian star. After that she released album Ne grem na kolena which went platinum. The song is still very much alive in Eurovision fans' meetings, and where are the people from jury now?
After that, I said: «never again in EMA»…who could blame me? But as months passed, I started to think a little bit about that; it would be like a football player says he'll never play again, after he lost one game. It was unfair, it was very mean, but – it was in the past. Between living there, and moving forward, I chose the latter. I tried to convince Sasa to participate in 2007 again, but there was no chance, since she had dedicated herself to the album. That's when I started to search… a friend of mine told me about a «talented soprano from Slovenia»… and the rest you know. This year Alenka told me about a «talented strings quartet»…. and story goes on and on.
You also were a backing singer in 2003 and 2007. Would you appear in the background again if your song/one of your songs go to Moscow this year?
Who knows? Love Symphony has only a female voice, performed by Martina Majerle, my close friend and colleague… she was with me in Riga, Helsinki, and last year she sung backings for Montenegro. I love to perform, although there are people who feel bad about it. Besides working as a composer, through the year, I record backing vocals in studio on 50 – 100 songs; so I find myself more than qualified to do it on stage as well. Although, I would never sing solo… 🙂
What do you think was the reason that Portugal dropped from second to 13th place in the final? The (bad) luck of the draw, the different voting system, maybe the song was too dramatic for the average voter?
Probably, it was mix of everything; the draw, type of the song, voting system, etc… The song sure wasn't something you listen to for fun in the club; it was very powerful, emotional, and dramatic – certainly not for the average voter. But still, it was so nice to hear people in the Arena screaming «Portugal», before the announcement of the countries who go to final.
How would you explain the fact that certain countries traditionally do well in the contest while others don't? Let's take for example Slovenia and Portugal on one hand and Greece and Ukraine on the other.
It takes a lot of money, energy, and experience to make one project like «National song goes to Eurovision» successful. While other countries always search for something different, some countries follow the same track every year; from the selection process, to the promotion and stage performance. One could expect that Slovenia should follow Alenka's way to keep on passing the semi final, but no…
Tell us a bit more about your bid in EMA 2009, Love Symphony to be performed by Quartissimo. How did this song come about? Could you tell us a bit more about the band?
I already told you Quartissimo is strings quartet. So, you could guess that the «song» is practically an instrumental one. We do have a voice there also, because that's what the rules ask of the songs; but in the start it was meant to be instrumental. That's something completely different for me; I've never worked with instrument players as a lead performer. The guys are also very confused with all the «drama» around them, because of EMA. They never did choreography before, never had a photo session, never performed song like this – which is a crossover; classical music meets pop.
Do you feel you have a winner song again?
When I made this «song», I thought that I made something very different from the songs that are usually on Eurovision, and also I expected people to find it strange, and somehow, not suitable for EMA or Eurovision. But when I started to show it to people, and when the song was presented on Slovenian TV, I realised I was wrong. From what I can say – comments for Quartissimo are, in general, much more positive, than the ones we got when Alenka was taking part with Cvet z juga. That got me thinking – I feel like people want something to be different from what they usually watch on EMA… because that's a good way to attract attention of the other countries (if it's for Eurovision) – to be different from the others; because – let's face it; in Eurovision there are certain types of the song; and by that you «choose» choreography, and what to wear. Last year, we' saw some dresses in more than one shows, didn't we? …
I feel like this song could make Slovenia be noticed among all the others; since there is a jury back again, I think this is something they could recognise more than average voters; it would be great to represent Slovenia once again in Eurovision, I am crazy enough to present a «song» like this in EMA… I know Slovenia is brave enough to choose it on Sunday. SLOVENISSIMO!
Do you have a message for the readers of esctoday.com?
I want to say hallo to everyone, many of your readers are my good friends, who I correspond with during the whole year. I want to use this opportunity to wish all of them, and all of the people who work on esctoday.com, all the best in 2009, and to have a nice time in Moscow. Hope we'll have great songs in the contest.
Thank you all who support my work on this and all the other fan-sites, as well as on my facebook profile, but also to people who don't like my songs, because they force me to move forward.
